An RT-award-winning literary agent with 20 years experience in numerous genres opens up about her experience and adventures in publishing and the world beyond it.

Monday, March 19, 2007

True Confessions of an Agent

I didn't read a thing this weekend.

Not even the New York Times.

And I feel really guilty.

My son is on a national robotics competition and I have been up at 7 to drive him downtown. I am re-doing my home (painting, new rugs, new floors, new furniture) and constantly moving new furniture, putting up paintings, and cleaning out stuff I no longer want. And then we went out for St. Pat's (a family tradition of corned beef and cabbage).

Up again on Sunday morning. My son had asked his grandmother and a neighbor we call "his extra grandmother" to come see him at the competition, so I decided I better feed them if they are out all day at this robot stuff, so I cooked a turkey and brownies before I left at noon and had dinner for five when we got back. Cleaned up. Passed out.

My son's team won top honors and they are going to the nationals in Atlanta, as is the high school's second robot team, a rookie team made up of all girls!!!!

I read a manuscript in the monring before I started work at 10 (instead of working out). I've done almost all the email unsolicteds that came in today (none have I requested). It's time to break for lunch, but I feel that I'm already behind.

13 comments:

Ryan Field
said...

Sounds to me as though you have all your priorities in the right places. I know an agent who makes a point of not reading on weekends and calls it self-preservation.And unless there's HUGE deadline or I have to figure out a contract, I don't even look at the computer on Saturday or Sunday.

Unless you count the instruction manual for a piece of furniture written by a 9 year old kid from China that gets a kick out of messing with the minds of 31 year old dads *breath* especially those with a touch of ADD and no aptitude for technical reasoning.